So…what do you want to be when you grow up?

The answer to this question mystified me from the time I was in elementary school until well after graduating from university. Like many people, I struggled to find my career direction and wondered when I would find the answer.

When I was in high school most of my ideas about careers and jobs came from my family and friends. In grade 12, those of us who had been told by our parents to attend university all assembled in a room one afternoon and filled out applications together. Shortly after graduating from high school I attended the University of Ottawa for a year as an economics major (the only department accepting last minute new students) before transferring to UBC. There, I discovered that my earlier pursuit of a career in ‘business’ had shifted towards interests in psychology and language. Five years later, I graduated with a double major in both subjects, but had no idea how my degree would translate into the world of work.

This career confusion stayed with me, and gradually (well, nine years later actually) it moved me into the career development field that I work in today. If it weren’t for almost a decade of weird and wonderful jobs that weren’t the right fit for me, I probably wouldn’t have gone back to school to pursue a career ABOUT careers. Despite more student loans, obtaining a new diploma helped me find my niche – resumes, interview strategies, the mysterious ‘hidden job market’ and LinkedIn are my new areas of fascination. I started out my ‘new’ career by instructing a job search program for professionals…10 years later, I work as a Career Advisor for the YWCA at a WorkBC Employment Services Centre, and I am happy to say I’m just as committed to helping people find their career direction as when I started.

So, I ask you the same question I asked myself for so long, using the wise words of Mary Oliver, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

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